Doctors Remove 10 Pound Hairball from Girl’s Stomach

A long time habit of hair chewing culminates in a massive bezoar build up in an 18-year-olds stomach. The New England Journal of Medicine explains the young woman had five month history of pain and swelling in her abdomen, vomiting after eating and a 40-pound weight loss.

A scan of the patient’s insides revealed a large mass. Doctors then inserted a scope through her esophagus which showed “a large bezoar occluding nearly the entire stomach,” wrote Drs. Ronald M. Levy and Srinadh Komanduri.

The 18-year-old offered that she had had a habit of eating her hair for many years. This is actually a medical condition called trichophagia.

She had surgery to remove the massive, 10 lbs, block of hair. Following the operation, her symptoms disappeared and she regained 20 lbs. The Journal also reports she no longer eats her hair.

Even in a world full of horrible images, that is certainly a standout. Some humans have the strangest quirks. On the other hand, someone would look at that photo and say “Oh, that’s where I lost that roach clip.”